


Have another drink, get lost in us

by pleshistocene



Series: Perfect Places [2]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Broody Carmilla, College AU, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Fluff, Human Carmilla Karnstein, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Snow, Tiny Gay Laura Hollis, Winter, new year's shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 20:38:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11813760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleshistocene/pseuds/pleshistocene
Summary: It's still winter break, there's still snow, Carmilla's still whipped and is still failing so badly at not being sappy. A little bit of that, a little bit of LaF's own shenanigans plus a little bit of Kirsch's goofy self and his cliche New Year's Eve party.





	Have another drink, get lost in us

**Author's Note:**

> so i've had this written practically since.. the beginning of the year. somehow forgot about it until now and well, here we go. happy late(more like early?) new year?

“I can almost hear you thinking, Creampuff.”

“Hmm?”, Laura uttered absentmindedly, bunching her face up at the book in front of her. They were situated on the couch comfortably shoulder to shoulder, each catching up on their own reading.

“You’ve been stuck on the same page for ten minutes now.” The dark haired girl sent a quick glance to her girlfriend’s book before going back to her own.

“Mhm, yeah.”

“You okay there Cupcake?”

“Uh huh.” Laura responded, completely in trance.

Carmilla raised an eyebrow at her questioningly before a grin took over her face. This should be fun.

“So, you said I didn’t have to go to Laf and Perry’s today with you.” She kept looking at Laura out of the corner of her eye to see her reaction.

“Yeah, sure.” 

Carmilla had to bite her lip to contain a chuckle that was threatening to escape her mouth. She repositioned herself and sat up, closing her book before putting it away. “Can we get a dog?”

“Sure, anything.” Laura was still obviously way too deep in her thoughts to properly acknowledge her surroundings.

Her girlfriend on the other hand, was having a good time. “Can we move to Europe after we graduate ?”

“Uh huh.”

“You also said you’d quit eating so much cookies.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, now you’re worrying me.” Carmilla turned towards her and took Laura’s book from her grip, placing it away. That seemed to bring Laura back to reality, “Hey, I was reading that!”, she was supposed to sound annoyed, and she did for a second, but really she ended up looking at Carmilla with the biggest sad puppy eyes.

“Were you now?, the dark haired girl continued to tease but her smirk dropped rather soon, as she noticed had begun Laura zoning out again. A small, but genuine smile broke through her hard exterior, forming on her face. She took her hands into her own and softened her voice; “What’s on your mind Laur?”

Laura’s entire posture slumped as she took a big breath, “It’s just… I kind of miss my dad.”, she looked up at Carmilla’s but lowered her head again, a small frown forming on her face, “This is my first year I’m not going back home for holidays.” 

Knowing she was bad at giving comfort speeches, Carmilla shifted and pulled her into her arms, leaning back into the couch comfortably with Laura who was more than happy to snake her own arms around Carmilla’s waist, completely relaxing into her.

“I mean, I know I have you and the others and I’m really happy about that but, you know…”, she trailed off, nuzzling further into girlfriend’s neck. “It’s kind of stupid, isn’t it?”

“What?”, Carmilla furrowed her brows, “It is totally not. You’re allowed to have feelings. And they’re very much valid.” She felt Laura shrug in her arms and mentally kicked herself for not being more capable. “Tell you what. Give your dad a call, and I’ll make you some cocoa in the meantime. Sounds good?” She was beginning to freak out about not getting an answer when she felt the softest kiss being pressed against her neck before Laura sat up to look at her with a wide smile on her face.

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

Carmilla felt her confidence come back to her, returning the smile. Without a word, she picked Laura’s phone up from the table and handed it to her with a knowing look. Laura took it and began scrolling her contacts, which Carmilla used as an opportunity to stand up and head off to the kitchen.

Once she got to her dad’s number, she paused and took a second to look at her broody roommate who seemed to be deeply invested into making that cocoa. She cracked a genuine smile at her before she shifted her attention to the phone, pressing the call button.

\---

Later that day, the duo was standing in front of their friends’ apartment.

“Here we go.”, Carmilla sighed dramatically, earning a eye-roll from her girlfriend who knocked on the door.

Seconds after, the door swung open and they were meet with a goofy smile only Laf could form. “Welcome, to our humble household”, they said all too formally with their best acting face, moving aside to let them through the door.

“Hi Laf”, Laura pretended not to be amused by the little show they always put on when they host, but being the sunshine she is, she also gave them a sweet smile.

“Ginger one.”

“Now, if you ladies will discard your shoes and hang up your coats.”, they gestured to the coat hangers right beside the door all too enthusiastically, getting eye rolls in return but being obeyed.

“Quit the game LaFontaine, you don’t have to do it every time they come!”, they all heard Perry’s scolding all the way from the kitchen.

“But where would the fun in that be?” Laf yelled back, grinning wide again, “Now, if you’ll follow me to the living room”, they turned and started walking with Laura and Carmilla on their heel. Well, Laura at least, Carmilla decided to take a detour into the kitchen on her way.

“Hey Red.” 

“Oh, Carmilla, hi!” Perry gave her a warm smile before going back to what looked like making a salad, “How are you?”

Carmilla leaned against the rather small kitchen counter, cautious not to knock anything down from it. “I’m good, just rather be here than play Laf’s hosting game. I don’t get how they aren’t tired of it by now.”

The redhead chuckled, “Honestly, me neither sweetie.”

“Do you need help with anything?”

“No thank- actually. If you’d be so kind to set the table. Make it 5 plates, Kirsch will be coming over as well.”

“On it boss.” Carmilla sauntered towards the drawers, already knowing where everything she needed was. Never having properly learned how to, she set the table the nicest she could. Do you put fork left or right from the plate? Right looks good. Her thoughts were interrupted by feeling two arms sliding around her waist from behind. She nearly smiled for a second when she realized the arms were way too strong to be Laura’s and she was being lifted from the ground.

“Carm sexy!” Kirsch said being overly enthusiastic, still holding her in the air with the biggest innocent puppy grin on his face.

“If you don’t put me down right now I’ll make you regret having skin.” Carmilla stated coldly. He was quick to oblige, and even quicker to make his way away from her, heading to greet Perry.

She turned her attention back to the table in front of her when her eyes went wide at the familiar feeling she had just experienced, but relaxed as soon as she realized the arms around her were way too gentle and small to be Kirsch’s this time.

“Left.”, Laura whispered softly in her ear.

Carmilla placed her hands on top of her girlfriend’s interlocking their fingers, leaned back into her and closed her eyes. “Hmm?”

“The fork. It goes on the left.” Laura rested her chin on top of Carmilla’s shoulder, looking down at the table.  
“Right, yeah.” Carmilla opened her eyes, already missing being lost in the moment. However, she didn’t move.

“Do you plan on fixing it?”

“Do I plan on moving anytime soon?” 

“You have a point.”

-

Soon, all five of them were seated around the small round table, enjoying the food and having small talk.

“Perry, I don’t think I’ve had better lasagna in my life.” Laura smiled up at her.

“Same bro.”, Kirsch managed to say between stuffing everything into his mouth.

“I fully agree.” Carmilla wasn’t much better than Kirsch when it came eating moderately and politely, which often earned her an elbow in the ribs from Laura.

“Well, I am glad you all like it.”, Perry said, happy with their reactions. “Are you all good, do you need anything else?” She was ready halfway up from the table when Laf placed their hand on her knee; “They’re okay Perry, relax. Enjoy the meal. I’ll get up if needed.” Perry smiled at them and they reciprocated, both returning to their food.

“So, are you guys coming to our house for the New Year’s party?” Kirsch asked, being the first to eat everything up.

“With Zetas? Dream, Beefcake.”

“Oh don’t worry, I can totally make sure a bedroom is free for you two upstairs.” He wiggled his eyebrows between Laura and Carmilla, Laf joined him.

Laura’s eyes went wide; “Kirsch!” She literally yelled at him, clearly embarrassed.  
Carmilla glared at him until he slumped in his seat and mumbled a “Sorry.”

“I’m not too sure about it either.” Perry sent him an apologetic look.

“Well, it’s not like we have to stay the whole night, Per. Besides, it’s tomorrow and we got nothing else.” Laf tried, looking at their girlfriend expectantly.

“What Laf said”, Laura backed them up, “We can just hang out with each other for a while. You know, to be together.”, she sent her own girlfriend an expectant look.

Carmilla was ready to fight this, but she remembered her conversation with Laura earlier that day and decided to give in. Not like she didn’t enjoy a good party, she just didn’t enjoy the frat boys. Yes, Kirsch was actually a good guy but that doesn’t mean all the Zetas were. “If I say yes, can we leave when I want?”

Laura’s face instantly lit up and she lunged to her side to hug Carmilla. More like to squeeze her while emanating joy all over the place. “Yes!”

All eyes fell on Perry, and she didn’t have much of a choice. She agreed under the same condition.

Once everyone was done with eating, they all offered to help with the dishes but the curly redhead shooed them away to the living room. Well, everyone except for LaFontaine who tried to sneak away with the rest but failed miserably. Not that it was a surprise, they knew they couldn’t avoid it anyway. It was worth a shot though.

“So Beefcake, you and Xena are becoming pretty close, aren’t you?”, Carmilla smirked in Kirsch’s direction, only waiting for him to become a flustered and stuttering mess.

“Me and who?”, Kirsch looked up at her from his spot on the floor he’d previously offered to take so the rest could sit on the couch. His face scrunched up in confusion, “Ooh you mean D-Bear!”, he was clearly proud of himself as realization hit him.

“D-Bear, huh?” Laf began in a suggestive tone. Carmilla’s snickering didn’t last long as she felt Laura nudging her knee, who noticed how uncomfortable Kirsch looked.

“Now let’s leave Kirsch alone, he’ll tell us when he’s ready.”, Perry to save the day, “Right sweetie?”, she raised an eyebrow at him.

He smiled happily while rapidly nodding, sat up straight and saluted her; “Scout’s honour!”

\---

The following day, Laura was practically dragging her grumpy girlfriend to the Zeta’s house. Even though she wished she’d taken her car then, walking was probably the best option unless you planned on staying sober. And who enters a new year sober? Carmilla eventually gave in and stopped fighting it, thankfully.

“Thanks by the way.”

“For what, Cupcake?”

“For agreeing to go. I know this is not exactly a party you’d normally go to.” The blonde had her eyes fixated on the ground. Before she had a chance to overthink it, she got interrupted by an arm being placed around her shoulders, pulling her towards the body next to her.

“Yeah, maybe. But you’ll be there, so how bad can it be?” Carmilla looked over to Laura with an actual genuine smile and shrugged, attempting to provide some comfort. She was relieved as she felt an arm sliding around her waist, and seeing Laura’s face light up.

“We don’t have to stay for too long.”

“I know. But maybe it won’t be a total disaster, who knows.”

The rest of the short walk was spent mostly in silence, except for the sound of snow crunching underneath their feet. And all the attempts of pushing each other on the ground. And smothering with snow. It was far more enjoyable than Carmilla would ever admit. Eventually they stumbled their way to the house, finding themselves in front of it. Of course the music was blasting even though they were still practically on the sidewalk, most likely illegally loud. 

A mutual sigh escaped their mouths as they walked up to the door, standing in front of it but neither going for the handle. “Changed your mind, Creampuff?”

“I dragged you here, might as well give it a try.” With that she opened the door enough for both of them to slide in before closing it. Hanging their coats up, they took in their surroundings. As Carmilla could presume, it was indeed crowded with sweat reeking immensely. Not crowded in a way that you wouldn’t be able to pass through all the half naked bodies at all but, too crowded for her liking. And too many exposed male torsos. At least everyone was holding red cups so, there had to be alcohol. 

Luckily, they could make out a certain pair of redheads in the corner of the room and instantly rushed to them. “Hey guys!”, Laura greeted them cheerfully, looking over at everyone before continuing, “Sorry we’re late but, somebody...“, her eyes darted over at Carmilla, “kept pushing me into the snow on our way here.”.

“Is that what you kids call it these days, Frosh?”, Laf wiggled their eyebrows over at the pair. Carmilla would normally hit back, but watching a blush creep up all over Laura’s neck and cheeks was way too amusing.

“When are you going to stop calling me that? My freshman year is long over.”

“Never L, never.”, they smirked at her and raised their cup to take a sip. As on cue, Kirsch appeared from nowhere behind them and moved his arms around Laura’s and Carmilla’s shoulder, placing a cup in front of each of them who looked at the liquid in it questionably but took it anyway. He must’ve noticed their hesitance since he attempted to reassure them; “It’s jack and coke. Only the best for my friends, the others get cheap beer.”, he shrugged, still resting his arms around their shoulders, now looking over at the rest of the group with a goofy and proud smile which only grew goofier once he spotted Danny amongst them.

“Why, I am impressed. Thanks Beefcake.”, with that Carmilla moved his arm away, patting him on the shoulder. Obviously, she was more interested in the drink in her hand.

“No problem Carmsexy.”, and he stormed off back to where he came from.

“You okay there Perry?”, Laura asked as she noticed the said ginger’s rather uncomfortable posture, not seeming too happy with the party. Or what she’d call, a barbarity. Not entirely inaccurate. She responded with a nod, but it was obvious she’d rather be anywhere else with that amount of fidgeting.

“How about we go dancing, should brighten the mood?” Laf suggested.

“Might as well.” Carmilla shrugged, finishing her drink effortlessly.

“I suppose I could give it a shot.”, Perry agreed reluctantly.

“Okay awesome!” The tiny gay exclaimed, all but dragging the group towards the centre of the room where everyone else was already having a blast. Initially it was crowded and stuffy but eventually they learned to push back and their senses adjusted. Mostly it was the alcohol Kirsch kept bringing them until he ran out and finally joined them. They’d been dancing for more than a good while when Laura out of nowhere grabbed her girlfriend’s hand and dragged her away and into the empty kitchen.

“Still a little too public for a quickie but,” Carmilla, out of breath but true to herself managed to say through an exhale; “Anything for you Cupcake.” accompanied by a wink.

“Oh. My. God.”, Laura punctuated every word dramatically while grabbing a glass and filling it up with water, “This is a kitchen. Get your mind out of the gutter Carm.”, she chugged down the whole glass at once only to fill it again and hand it over to Carmilla who mumbled a thanks and drank it the same. 

“My mind is meant to be in the gutter.” 

“Oh I’m well aware of that.”

It was then that Kirsch and Danny stormed in hand in hand, and stopped just by the door giving each other the biggest heart eyes. Obviously caught up in each other, they were totally oblivious to Laura’s and Carmilla’s presence whose jaws were dropped and eyes wide in disbelief. 

“Holy shit.”, Carmilla couldn’t help but utter, at which the giants both jumped back from each other with just slightly panicked expressions. 

“Hotties, hi!”, he really tried to sound casual, but really came out as an obvious bundle of nerves, clearly uncomfortable. Danny seemed to be more interested in the ceiling than anyone else in the room. 

Laura could recognize the look on Carmilla’s face and knowing she was about to give the apparent new couple a hard time she dragged her out to the back porch, closing the door behind them. “Holy shit.”, she leaned against the said door, gazing up at her broody companion in front of her. “So that was…”

“Weird.”

“Totally.”

They both broke into a breathy laugh. It wasn’t until the cold kicked in that they realized they’d gone outside. However, it was oddly refreshing. 

“So Xena swings that way too huh.”

“Oh come on, they’re cute.”

Carmilla snorted but seeing the glare Laura was giving her she instantly forced a serious face. She pulled her phone out, pressing the home button to reveal the time. “Hey, it’s like two minutes to midnight.”, she said without even looking at the shorter girl before pocketing her phone.

“Well”, Laura took a step closer to the dark haired one, wrapping her arms around her neck. Carmilla’s own arms automatically snaked around Laura’s waist, joining their foreheads together, ”I’m glad that we’re out here and not in there.”

“Me too Cupcake.”, came out in a whisper more than anything, as if speaking up would somehow ruin the quiet and peaceful moment of light swaying to the wrong kind of music. As quiet as it got in their situation, at least. Which is surprisingly quiet, since the volume of the previously blaring music was turned down. Which could really only mean one thing.

And so it started.

10,

9,

Once the clock ticked off midnight everyone must’ve been screaming the congratulations from the top of their lungs and accompanied by the fireworks that kept going on restlessly it was quite the noise. Despite all that, the duo was completely lost in each other, even more so in the moment their lips joined in the first kiss in the new year. 

About half a minute into the 2017, people started rushing out to the backyard to watch the colourful show playing in the sky. Not that this bothered the couple who completely ignored (if you can call flipping people off ignoring) anyone calling their names. They seemed quite content just where they were for a good amount of time. Laura was the one to pull away, just enough to speak audibly; “Happy New Year, Carm.”

Carmilla took the opportunity to catch her breath and with a genuine smile exhaled, “Happy New Year, Laura.” She looked over her shoulder to see a rather large group of people scattered about everywhere, turning back to Laura with a raised eyebrow; “Wanna get out of here?”,

“Definitely.”

**Author's Note:**

> the end is so damn cheesy brb hiding in a dumpster for the rest of my life


End file.
